Friday, May 13, 2011

Race at the Polls

Tuesday morning I dropped off my girls at their exemplary elementary school and headed to the voting booth. I had researched the candidates and knew who I would vote for.I also THOUGHT I knew how I would vote on the proposition to change the make-up of the BISD Board of Trustees. I considered all my thoughts on the merits of “yes” and “no” votes, because I do believe both sides do have merit.If you haven’t voted yet, the Enterprise endorsement and alternative view lay them out simply and well. As I stood there hovering over the touch screen, I recalled all of the talk I have heard and read from both sides of the issue. And this is when it got weird.

As I stood there my mind wondered to thoughts of how the two sides of this issue lie almost exclusively along either side of racial lines. All of the sudden, I wasn't thinking about the merits of the proposition, I was thinking about race.I was thinking about the comments on various blogs charged with accusations of race against one side or the other. I was thinking about my daughters and how wonderful their BISD experience had been under this divisive administration.I was thinking about the racial implications of the outcome of the election one way or the other.I was thinking about the distinct colors of BETTER and BEST.I was thinking about the lawsuits that had preceded this election, the ones ongoing and the ones that will likely follow no matter the outcome.I was thinking about whether a vote one way would be racist, or whether a vote the other way would be reverse-racism.

I was thinking about a million things, not one of them being the merits of the proposition.In fact, when I got home my wife asked me how I had voted.I honestly couldn’t and still don’t remember.I am embarrassed by that.I take my right to vote seriously and perform that duty proudly.But that is how confounded and distracted I was.

That is what modern racism does.It has become a tool.And nobody uses it better than Southeast Texas.Somewhere along the line a group decided to make our children’s public education a racial issue.Then the other side used accusations of racism to promote their position.And back and forth it goes, ad nauseam, until I am sitting in voting booths deciding whether it is racist or reverse-racist to vote for or against the proposition.

But here’s the thing - I think the people on both sides mean well.They all want a better school district.They want the best for our kids.I think that everyone would agree that They do.But racism got in the way of meaningful dialog and unified advancement.

How can we come together as a city and be all that our children deserve without our legacy of racism tainting the issues and clouding our judgment?This is something I will be giving a lot of thought to in the coming weeks. I hope you will as well.